Court Watch
of emergency has ended, security forces remain prominent throughout the country and repression continues. According to human rights groups, more than 3,600 people have been fired from their jobs and 1,400 people have been imprisoned.
In late September, Bahrain held parliamentary by- elections for seats vacated by the largest opposi- tion party, Al-Wefaq. The election was boycotted by thousands of Bahrainis, resulting in very low voter turnout. In response to the boycotting pro- testers, Bahraini authorities increased security forces and suppression of anti-government activ- ists. The Bahraini authorities arrested over 70 pro- testers on election day, 40 of whom were women. The protesters were interrogated and imprisoned for 45 days during the investigations.
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Also in September, the National Safety Court sentenced 20 doctors and nurses because they rendered aid to protesters. In response to inter- national outcry against its harsh punishments, the Bahraini judicial authorities later nullified the medi- cal workers’ convictions, released them from cus- tody, and will retry them in a civilian court. In April, four protesters were sentenced to death, which was a rarity in the Bahraini judicial system.
In response to the international pressure, Khalifa reported that an independent commission will in- vestigate human rights violations associated with the protests. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights announced that the Bahraini government will permit a United Nations commission to investigate alleged human rights violations. Khalifa also announced in June that all trials regarding protesters will be trans- ferred from the National Safety Court to civilian courts. However, the majority of protesters are still tried before the military court.
The Bahraini government’s suppression of anti- government protesters has cost many lives and there is great international outcry condemning the government’s human rights and due process vio- lations. The government claimed it was willing to
compromise with the opposition and Khalifa has apologized for some protesters’ deaths, but no ef- fective action has been taken towards reform.
* Submitted by Christine Long
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Foreign Works Copyright Case
On October 5, 2011, the Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments from the parties to Golan v. Holder, an intellectual property case set to determine the constitutionality of a law ex- tending copyright protection to foreign works pre- viously held in the public domain. While the Peti- tioners blasted the law as a “remarkable” burden on free speech, the Respondents highlighted the law’s vital importance to U.S. intellectual property interests abroad. The Court’s ultimate decision on the constitutionality of this law will significantly impact the cost and availability of millions of af- fected foreign works.
Golan was initiated by a group of educators, con- ductors, performers, motion picture distributors, and film archivists (Petitioners) who regularly used the affected works without restriction in the United States. Their claimed injury arose when Congress enacted the Uruguay Round Agree- ments Act of 1994 (URAA) in order to bring the U.S. copyright system into compliance with the international standards agreed to during the Uru- guay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Specifically at issue in Golan is Section 514 of the URAA, which amended Title 17 of the U.S. Code to extend protection to nu- merous foreign works previously unrecognized by U.S. law.
Most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that Section 514 does not violate the Constitution, overturning the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Petitioners. The Petitioners subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court, and the current case chal-
ILSA Quarterly » volume 20 » issue 2 » December 2011
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